Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy (1925) is nothing less than what the title holds it to be; it is the story of a weak-willed young man who is both villain and victim (the victim of a valueless, materialistic society) and someone who ultimately destroys himself. Dreiser modeled the story of Clyde Griffiths on a real-life murder that took place in 1906; a young social climber of considerable charm murdered his pregnant girlfriend to get her out...

When it comes to quilting, Maggie Newcomb is all thumbs. And nobody rubs it in more than Emma Jean Stoddard. But Maggie swallows her ire for one simple reason--she has a crush on Emma Jean's handsome son, Colby, and doesn't want to ruin her chances. So she works hard to become the best quilter in Maintown. Her plan seems to be working--that is, until Tamara Brennan comes to town. Tamara is wealthy and poised as well as beautiful, and immediately turns...

Plea bargains may grease the rails of justice, but for Jamie Brock, prosecuting criminals is not about cutting deals. In her three years as assistant DA, she's never plea-bargained a case and vows she never will. But when a powerful defense attorney is indicted for murder and devises a way to bring the entire justice system to a screeching halt, Jamie finds herself at a crossroads. One by one, prisoners begin rejecting deals. Prosecutors are overwhelmed,...

Sweetheart roses -- the traditional gift of lovers. Yet they had been an important clue in the murder 10 years ago of strikingly beautiful Suzanne Reardon, whose husband, Skip, is now serving a life sentence for that murder. Kerry McGrath had only begun to work in the county prosecutor's office at the time of the infamous "Sweetheart Murder Case," yet she remembers being impressed by both the ability her new boss, Frank Green, displayed in successfully...

It was dusk when Todd Duncan sighted the man and his camp at a small oasis on the edge of the desert. Duncan, on his way to New Mexico to find work, knew better than to barge into a stranger's camp. After riding in and dismounting, he decided to make coffee before waking the stranger. When he called to the man, there was no response, so he walked over to find the man dead from a gunshot wound. It is then that he finds himself surrounded by Sheriff...

Court-appointed lawyer Jake Brigance puts his career, his financial security, and the safety of his family on the line to defend a sixteen-year-old suspect who is accused of killing a local deputy and is facing the death penalty. Clanton, Mississippi. 1990. Jake Brigance finds himself embroiled in a deeply divisive trial when the court appoints him attorney for Drew Gamble, a timid sixteen-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy. Many in...

A year after running away with a traveling carnival to escape his unbearable home life, sixteen-year-old Michael returns to Miami, Florida, to find that his mother is going on trial for the murder of his abusive stepfather.

A man about to be acquitted of murder in Philadelphia boasts to his lawyer that he did it, after all. Furious, lawyer Marta Richter starts digging for evidence to prove his guilt before the case goes to the jury, which is in favor of acquittal, the accused having claimed self-defense against a car jacker.

The hero of Rosenfelt's previous novels, Edgar-nominated Open and Shut, and First Degree, Andy Carpenter returns to prove the innocence of a reporter accused of being a serial killer.
Defense attorney Andy Carpenter has been successfully avoiding taking on new cases until his sometime friend and newspaper owner Vince Sanders, calls and asks him for a favor. Daniel Cumming, Vince's star reporter, is being used as the mouthpiece for...

Anna Vincenzi, who has been in the shadow of her movie-star sister, remakes herself into the ultimate sexy woman and is declared a prime suspect in her sister's murder, a situation that prompts the valley residents to rally together.